The present invention relates to a wet type image forming apparatus that forms an image with a developing solution containing a toner in a carrier solution.
Apparatuses that transfer a toner to a recording paper to thereby form an image include, for example, a dry type image forming apparatus, which applies a powder toner to a surface of a developing roller (also called a “developer carrier”) to form an image, and a wet type image forming apparatus, which applies a developing solution containing a toner in a carrier solution to a surface of a developing roller to form an image, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. P2002-214920A. The toner employed in the latter apparatus is finer than that employed in the former. Accordingly, the latter provides an image of a higher quality.
In the wet type image forming apparatus according to the above publication, a cleaning blade disposed in contact with the surface of a developing roller scrapes off the developing solution that has not been consumed for a developing process on a photoconductive drum. However, the toner contained in the developing solution is very fine, and can stick to the surface of the developing roller. Therefore, a portion of the toner may pass through the thin gap between the developing roller surface and the cleaning blade, or be deposited in a region close to the cleaning blade. The toner that passes through the gap is especially problematic, since such toner is unevenly deposited in grooves on an anilox roller, thereby creating an uneven developing result.